SUMNER 

Explanation  in  Reply  to  an 
Assault 


"He,  being  Dead,  yet  Speaketh" 

• 

CHARLES  SUMMER'S 

EXPLANATION   IN  REPLY  TO   AN 
ASSAULT. 


A  SPEECH  PREPARED  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 
MARCH,  1871. 


"Poor  me  lie  tights,  if  that  he  fighting,  \\ lien- 
He  only  cudgels  and  I  only  bear. 
He  stands  and  bills  me  stand  :  1  must  abide  : 
For  he's  the  stronger,  and  is  drunk  beside." 

JUVENAL,  Sat.  III.  v.  27:1  - '277,  Dryden's  Version 


B  0  8  T  0  X  : 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD,   PUBLISHERS. 

XKW  YORK : 
CHARLES  T.    DILLINGHAM. 

1878. 


He,  being  Dead,  yet  Speaketk 


CHARLES  SUMMER'S 

EXPLANATION   IN  EEPLY  TO  AN 
ASSAULT. 


A  SPEECH  PREPARED  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 
MARCH,  1871. 


"Poor  me  he  fights,  if  that  be  fighting,  where 
He  only  cudgels  and  I  only  bear. 
He  stands  and  bids  me  stand  :  I  must  abide  ; 
For  he 's  the  stronger,  and  is  drank  beside." 

JUVENAL,  Sat.  III.  v.  273  -  277,  Dryden's  Version. 


BOSTON": 
LEE   AND    SHEPARD,   PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK : 
CHARLES  T.   DILLINGHAM. 

1878. 


COPYRIGHT,  1878. 
BY   LEE   AND   8HEPARD. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS:  WELCH,  BICELOW,  &  Co., 
CAMBRIDGE 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  BARBARA 


PERSONAL  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  PRESIDENT 
AND  SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 


Si  rixa  est,  ubi  tu  pulsas,  ego  vapulo  tantum. 
Stat  contra,  starique  jubet ;  parere  necesse.  est. 
Nam  quid  agas,  cum  te  furiosus  cogat,  et  idem 
Fortior  ? 

JUVENAL,  Sat.  III.  v.  273-277. 


TO  THE  READER. 

THIS  statement  was  prepared  in  March  shortly  after  the  debate  in  the 
Senate  ;  but  was  withheld  at  that  time  from  unwillingness  to  take  part 
in  the  controversy,  while  able  friends  regarded  the  question  of  principle 
involved  as  above  every  personal  issue.  Yielding  at  last  to  various 
pressure,  Mr.  SUMXER  concluded  to  present  it  at  the  recent  called 
session  of  the  Senate,  but  the  Treaty  with  Great  Britain  and  the  case 
of  the  newspaper  correspondents  were  so  engrossing  as  to  leave  no  time 
for  anything  else. 

WASHINGTON,  June,  1871. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


I  1ST  June,  I  think,  1871,  I  received  from  Mr.  Suraner 
this  "  Explanation,"  with  the  following  prefix,  "  Un- 
published, —  private  and  confidential,  —  not  to  go  out  of 
Mr.  Bird's  hands."  I  frequently  urged  him  afterwards 
to  make  it  public.  His  reply  was,  in  substance,  that  he 
should  not  do  it  for  personal  vindication  merely ;  that, 
so  far  as  Mr.  Motley  was  concerned,  he  thought  the  mat- 
ter stood  well  enough  before  the  public :  but  if  the  time 
should  come  when  the  ends  of  justice  required  its  pub- 
lication, he  should  remove  the  injunction  of  secrecy. 
While  he  lived  I  respected  his  injunction.  After  his 
death  I  felt  that  justice  to  his  memory  not  only  justi- 
fied, but  required  me  to  make  the  "  Explanation  "  public ; 
just  as  his  literary  executors  would  regard  it  as  not 
only  proper,  but  it  might,  in  their  discretion,  become  a 
duty,  to  include  this,  with  other  "  private  and  confiden- 
tial" papers,  with  his  works  or  in  his  biography.  Ac- 
cordingly, after  conferring  with  Mr.  Whitelaw  Eeid  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  I  sent  it  to  him,  and  it  was  pub- 
lished in  that  journal  of  April  6,  1874 

The  publication  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention, 
in  a  spirit  very  much  depending  upon  the  relations,  per- 


4  INTRODUCTORY. 

sonal  and  political,  during  his  life,  between  the  critics 
and  Mr.  Sumner  on  the  one  hand  and  the  persons 
involved  in  the  "Explanation"  on  the  other.  From  one 
of  these  classes  I  expected  neither  generosity  nor  jus- 
tice. Not  such  defenders  does  the  memory  of  CHARLES 
Sr.MNER  need ;  for,  if  invoked,  they  would  only,  as  re- 
cent events  have  too  clearly  and  sadly  shown,  have 
done  him  injustice. 

Mr.  Suruner  prefixed  to  the  tl  Explanation  "  a  passage 
from  Juvenal,  of  which  I  give  Dryden's  translation :  — 

"  Poor  me  he  fights,  if  that  be  fighting,  where 
He  only  cudgels  and  I  only  bear. 
He  stands  and  bids  me  stand  :  I  must  abide  ; 
For  he  's  the  stronger,  and  is  drunk  beside." 

An  extraordinary  spectacle  has  lately  been  presented 
to  the  world.  An  ex-President  of  the  United  States, 
travelling  through  Europe,  has  publicly  proclaimed 
CHARLES  SUMXER  as  notoriously  derelict  in  public  du- 
ties, and  a  liar.  The  chief  of  his  Cabinet  has  echoed 
the  same  slanders.  The  transactions  detailed  in  the 
"  Explanation  "  form  the  subject  of  a  portion  of  these 
charges.  I  do  not  enter  upon  a  general  examination 
of  these  assaults,  which,  from  their  obvious  malice  and 
improbability,  were  at  once  and  instinctively  repelled  by 
the  whole  truth-loving  community.  Full  justice  to  Mr. 
Simmer's  memory  has  been  done  by  the  public  press, 
and  specially  by  one  of  his  most  trusted  friends,  and 
the  public  verdict  against  his  defamers  is  substantially 
unanimous.  My  only  purpose  in  the  present  publica- 


INTRODUCTORY.  5 

tion  of  the  "  Explanation  "  is  to  place  in  more  perma- 
nent form  his  own  reply  to  one  of  these  assaults.  The 
completeness  of  the  vindication  increases  our  regret 
that  he  does  not  live  to  reply  to  the  other  assaults 
lately  made  under  responsible  names,  and  also  increases 
our  amazement  at  the  cowardice  as  well  as  the  base- 
ness of  these  slanders  on  the  dead. 

F.  W.  BIRD. 

EAST  WALPOLE,  December  18,  1877. 


AN  EXPLANATION  IN  REPLY  TO  AN  ASSAULT. 


MR.  SUMNER.  While  I  was  under  trial  before  the 
Senate,  on  articles  of  impeachment  presented  by 
the  Senator  from  Wisconsin  [Mr.  HOWE],  I  forbore  tak- 
ing any  part  in  the  debate,  even  in  reply  to  allegations, 
asserted  to  be  of  decisive  importance,  touching  my  rela- 
tions with  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State.  All 
this  was  trivial  enough;  but  numerous  appeals  to  me 
from  opposite  parts  of  the  country  show  that  good 
people  have  been  diverted  by  these  allegations  from  the 
question  of  principle  involved.  Without  intending  in 
any  way  to  revive  the  heats  of  that  debate,  I  am  in- 
duced to  make  a  plain  statement  of  facts,  so  that  the 
precise  character  of  those  relations  shall  be.  known.  I 
do  this  with  unspeakable  reluctance,  but  in  the  dis- 
charge of  a  public  duty  where  the  claims  of  patriotism 
are  above  even  those  of  self-defence.  The  Senate  and 
the  country  have  an  interest  in  knowing  the  truth  of 
this  matter,  and  so  also  has  the  Republican  party,  which 
cannot  be  indifferent  to  pretensions  in  its  name;  nor 
will  anything  but  the  completest  frankness  be  proper 
for  the  occasion. 

In  overcoming  this  reluctance  I  am  aided  by  Sen- 
ators, who  are  determined  to  make  me  speak.  The 
Senator  from  Wisconsin  [Mr.  HOWE],  who  appears  as 
prosecuting  officer,  after  alleging  these  personal  relations 


8  PERSONAL   RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

as  the  gravamen  of  accusation  against  me,  —  making 
the  issue  pointedly  on  this  floor  and  actually  challeng- 
ing reply,  —  not  content  with  the  opportunity  of  this 
Chamber,  hurried  to  the  public  press,  where  he  repeated 
the  accusation,  and  now  circulates  it,  as  1  am  told,  under 
his  frank,  crediting  it  in  formal  terms  to  the  liberal 
paper  in  which  it  appeared,  but  without  allusion  to  the 
editorial  refutation  which  accompanied  it.  On  still  an- 
other occasion,  appearing  still  as  prosecuting  officer,  the 
same  Senator  volunteered  out  of  his  own  invention 
to  denounce  me  as  leaving  the  Republican  party,  and 
this  he  did,  with  infinite  personality  of  language  and 
manner,  in  the  very  face  of  my  speech  to  which  he  was 
replying,  where,  in  positive  words,  I  declare  that  I 
speak  "  for  the  sake  of  the  Republican  party,"  which  I 
hope  to  save  from  responsibility  for  wrongful  acts,  and 
then,  in  other  words  making  the  whole  assumption  of 
the  Senator  an  impossibility,  I  announce,  that  in  speak- 
ing for  the  Republican  party  it  is  "because  from  the 
beginning  I  have  been  the  faithful  servant  of  that  party 
and  aspire  to  see  it  strong  and  triumphant."  In  the 
face  of  this  declared  aspiration,  in  harmony  with  my 
whole  life,  the  Senator  delivered  his  attack,  and,  assum- 
ing to  be  nothing  less  than  Pope,  launched  against  me 
his  bull  of  excommunication.  Then,  again  playing  Pope, 
he  took  back  his  thunder,  with  the  apology  that  others 
thought  so,  and  this  alleged  understanding  of  others  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  set  above  my  positive  and  contem- 
poraneous language  that  I  aspired  to  see  the  Republican 
party  strong  and  triumphant.  Then  came  the  Senator 
from  Ohio  [Mr.  SH HUMAN],  who,  taking  up  his  vacation 
pen,  added  to  the  articles  of  impeachment,  by  a  supple- 
mentary allegation,  adopted  by  the  Senator  under  a 


PRESIDENT   AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  9 

misapprehension  of  facts.  Here  was  another  challenge. 
During  all  this  time  I  have  been  silent.  Senators  have 
spoken  and  then  rushed  into  print ;  but  I  have  said 
nothing.  They  have  had  their  own  way  with  regard 
to  me.  It  is  they  who  leave  me  no  alternative. 

It  is  alleged  that  I  have  no  personal  relations  with 
the  President.  Here  the  answer  is  easy.  I  have  pre- 
cisely the  relations  which  he  has  chosen.  On  reaching 
Washington  in  December  last,  I  was  assured  from  vari- 
ous quarters,  that  the  White  House  was  angry  with  me, 
and  soon  afterward  the  public  journals  reported  the 
President  as  saying  to  a  Senator  that  if  he  were  not 
President,  he  "  would  call  me  to  account."  What  he 
meant  I  never  understood,  nor  would  I  attribute  to  him 
more  than  he  meant;  but  that  he  used  the  language 
reported  I  have  no  doubt,  from  information  independent 
of  the  newspapers.  I  repeat  that  on  this  point  I  have 
no  doubt.  The  same  newspapers  reported,  also,  that  a 
member  of  the  President's  household,  enjoying  his  pe- 
culiar confidence,  taking  great  part  in  the  St.  Domingo 
scheme,  had  menaced  me  with  personal  violence.  I 
could  not  believe  the  story  except  on  positive,  unequiv- 
ocal testimony.  That  the  menace  was  made  on  the 
condition  of  his  not  being  an  army  officer  I  do  not  doubt. 
The  member  of  the  household,  when  interrogated  by  my 
excellent  colleague  [Mr.  WILSON],  positively  denied  the 
menace,  but  I  am  assured,  on  authority  above  question, 
that  he  has  since  acknowledged  it,  while  the  Presi- 
dent still  retains  him  in  service,  and  sends  him  to  this 
Chamber. 

During  this  last  session  I  have  opposed  the  presi- 
dential policy  on  an  important  question ;  but  always 


10  PERSONAL  RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

without  one  word  touching  motives,  or  one  suggestion 
of  corruption  on  his  part,  although  I  never  doubted  that 
there  were  actors  in  the  business  who  could  claim  no 
such  immunity.  It  now  appears  that  Fabens,  who  came 
here  as  plenipotentiary  to  press  the  scheme,  lias  conces- 
sions to  such  amount  that  the  diplomatist  is  lost  in  the 
speculator.  I  always  insisted  that  the  President  was 
no  party  to  any  such  transaction.  I  should  do  injustice 
to  my  own  feelings  if  I  did  not  here  declare  my  regret 
that  I  could  not  agree  with  the  President.  I  tried  to 
think  as  he  did,  but  I  could  not.  I  listened  to  the 
arguments  on  his  side ;  but  in  vain.  The  adverse  con- 
siderations multiplied  with  time  and  reflection.  To 
those  who  know  the  motives  of  my  life,  it  is  superflu- 
ous for  me  to  add  that  I  sought  simply  the  good  of  my 
country  and  Humanity,  including  especially  the  good 
of  the  African  race,  to  which  our  country  owes  so 
much. 

Already  there  was  anger  at  the  "White  House  when 
the  scheme  to  buy  and  annex  half  an  island  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea  was  pressed  upon  the  Senate  in  legisla- 
tive session,  under  the  guise  of  appointing  a  Commis- 
sion, and  it  became  my  duty  to  expose  it.  Here  I  was 
constrained  to  show  how,  at  very  large  expense,  the 
usurper  Baez  was  maintained  in  power  by  the  navy  of 
the  United  States,  to  enable  him  to  sell  his  country, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  independence  of  the  Black 
Republic  was  menaced,  all  of  which  was  in  violation 
of  International  Law,  and  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Tinted  States,  which  reserves  to  Congress  the  power  "  to 
declare  war."  What  I  said  was  in  open  debate,  where  the 
record  will  speak  for  me.  I  hand  it  over  to  the  most 
careful  scrutiny,  knowing  that  the  President  can  take 


PRESIDENT   AND   SECRETARY    OF   STATE.  11 

no  just  exception  to  it,  unless  he  insists  upon  limiting 
proper  debate,  arid  boldly  denies  the  right  of  a  Senator 
to  express  himself  freely  on  great  acts  of  wrong.  Nor 
will  any  Republican  Senator  admit  that  the  President 
can  impose  his  own  sole  will  upon  the  Republican 
party.  Our  party  is  in  itself  a  Republic  with  universal 
suffrage,  and  until  a  measure  is  adopted  by  the  party 
no  Republican  President  can  make  it  a  party  test. 

Much  as  I  am  pained  in  making  this  statement  with 
regard  to  the  President,  infinitely  more  painful  to  me 
is  what  I  must  present  with  regard  to  the  Secretary  of 
State.  Here  again  I  remark  that  I  am  driven  to  this 
explanation.  His  strange  and  unnatural  conduct  to- 
ward-me  and  his  prompting  of  Senators,  who,  one  after 
another,  have  set  up  my  alleged  relations  with  him 
as  ground  of  complaint,  make  it  necessary  for  me  to 
proceed. 

We  were  sworn  as  Senators  on  the  same  day,  as  far 
back  as  1851,  and  from  that  distant  time  were  friends, 
until  the  St.  Domingo  business  intervened.  Nothing 
could  exceed  our  kindly  relations  in  the  past.  On  the 
evening  of  the  inauguration  of  General  Grant  as  Presi- 
dent, he  was  at  my  house  with  Mr.  Motley  in  friendly 
communion,  and  all  uniting  in  aspirations  for  the  new 
Administration.  Little  did  Mr.  Motley  or  myself  im- 
agine in  that  social  hour  that  one  of  our  little  circle  was 
so  soon  to  turn  upon  us  both. 

Shortly  afterward  Mr.  Fish  became  Secretary  of  State, 
and  began  his  responsible  duties  by  appealing  to  me  for 
help.  I  need  not  say  that  I  had  pleasure  in  responding 
to  his  call,  and  that  I  did  what  I  could  most  sincerely 
and  conscientiously  to  aid  him.  Of  much,  from  his 


12         PERSONAL  RELATIONS  WITH  THE 

arrival  down  to  his  alienation  on  the  St.  Domingo  busi- 
ness, I  possess  the  written  record.  For  some  time  he 
showed  a  sympathy  with  the  scheme  almost  as  little  as 
my  own.  But  as  the  President  grew  in  earnestness  the 
Secretary  yielded,  until  tardily  he  became  its  attorney. 
Repeatedly  lie  came  to  my  house,  pleading  for  the 
scheme.  Again  and  again  he  urged  it ;  sometimes  at 
my  house  and  sometimes  at  his  own.  I  was  astonished 
that  he  could  do  so,  and  expressed  my  astonishment 
with  the  frankness  of  old  friendship.  For  apology  he 
announced  that  lie  was  the  President's  friend,  and  took 
office  as  such.  "  But,"  said  I,  "  you  should  resign  rather 
than  do  this  thing."  This  I  could  not  refrain  from 
remarking  on  discovery  from  despatches  in  the  State 
Department,  that  the  usurper  Baez  was  maintained  in 
power  by  our  navy.  This  plain  act  of  wrong  required 
instant  redress ;  but  the  Secretary  astonished  me  again 
by  his  insensibility  to  my  appeal  for  justice.  He  main- 
tained the  President,  as  the  President  maintained  Baez. 
I  confess  that  I  was  troubled. 

At  last,  some  time  in  June,  1870,  a  few  weeks  before 
the  St.  Domingo  treaty  was  finally  rejected  by  the  Sen- 
ate, the  Secretary  came  to  my  house  about  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  remained  till  after  the  clock  struck 
midnight,  the  whole  protracted  visit  being  occupied  in 
earnest  and  reiterated  appeal,  that  I  should  cease  my 
opposition  to  the  Presidential  scheme ;  and  here  he  urged 
that  the  election  which  made  General  Grant  President 
had  been  carried  by  him  and  not  by  the  Republican 
party,  so  that  his  desires  were  entitled  to  especial  atten- 
tion. In  his  pressure  on  me  he  complained  that  I  had 
opposed  other  projects  of  the  President.  In  reply  to  my 
inquiry  he  named  the  repeal  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act, 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  13 

and  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Jones  as  Minister  to  Brus- 
sels, both  of  which  the  President  had  much  at  heart,  and 
he  concluded  with  the  St.  Domingo  treaty.  I  assured 
the  Secretary  firmly  and  simply,  that,  seeing  the  latter 
as  I  did  with  all  its  surroundings,  my  duty  was  plain, 
and  that  I  must  continue  to  oppose  it  so  long  as  it  ap- 
peared to  me  \vrong.  He  was  not  satisfied,  and  renewed 
his  pressure  in  various  forms,  returning  to  the  point 
again  and  again  with  persevering  assiduity,  that  \vould 
not  be  arrested,  when  at  last,  finding  me  inflexible,  he 
changed  his  appeal,  saying,  "  Why  not  go  to  London  ? 
I  offer  you  the  English  mission.  It  is  yours."  Of  his 
authority  from  the  President  I  know  nothing.  I  speak 
only  of  what  he  said.  My  astonishment  was  heightened 
by  indignation  at  this  too  palpable  attempt  to  take  me 
from  my  post  of  duty;  but  I  suppressed  the  feeling 
which  rose  to  the  lips,  and,  reflecting  that  he  was  an  old 
friend  and  in  my  own  house,  ans\vered  gently,  "We 
have  a  Minister  there  who  cannot  be  bettered."  Thus 
already  did  the  mission  to  London  begin  to  pivot  on  St. 
Domingo. 

I  make  this  revelation  only  because  it  is  important 
to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  case,  and  because  the 
conversation  from  beginning  to  end  was  official  in  char- 
acter, relating  exclusively  to  public  business,  without 
suggestion  or  allusion  of  a  personal  nature,  and  absolutely 
without  the  slightest  word  on  my  part  leading  in  the 
most  remote  degree  to  any  such  overture,  which  was 
unexpected  as  undesired.  The  offer  of  the  Secretary 
was  in  no  respect  a  compliment  or  kindness,  but  in  the 
strict  line  of  his  endeavor  to  silence  my  opposition  to 
the  St.  Domingo  scheme,  as  is  too  apparent  from  the 
facts,  while  it  was  plain,  positive,  and  unequivocal, 


14  PERSONAL   RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

making  its  object  and  import  beyond  question.  Had  it 
been  merely  an  inquiry,  it  were  bad  enough  under  the 
circumstances,  but  it  was  direct  and  complete  as  by  a 
plenipotentiary. 

Shortly  afterward,  being  the  day  immediately  follow- 
ing the  rejection  of  the  St.  Domingo  treaty,  Mr.  Motley 
was  summarily  removed,  according  to  present  pretence 
for  an  offending  not  only  trivial  and  formal,  but  con- 
doned by  time,  being  a  year  old,  —  very  much  as  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  after  being  released  from  the  Tower  to 
conduct  a  distant  expedition  as  admiral  of  the  fleet,  was 
at  his  return  beheaded  on  a  judgment  of  fifteen  years' 
standing.  The  Secretary  in  conversation  and  in  corre- 
spondence with  me  undertook  to  explain  the  removal, 
insisting  for  a  long  time  that  he  was  "  the  friend  of  Mr. 
Motley";  but  he  always  made  the  matter  worse,  while 
the  heats  of  St.  Domingo  entered  into  the  discussion. 

At  last,  in  January,  1871,  a  formal  paper  justifying  the 
removal  and  signed  by  the  Secretary  was  laid  before  the 
Senate.  Glancing  at  this  document  I  found,  to  my  sur- 
prise, that  its  most  salient  characteristic  was  constant 
vindictiveness  toward  Mr.  Motley,  with  effort  to  wound 
his  feelings,  and  this  was  signed  by  one  who  had  sat 
with  him  at  my  house  in  friendly  communion  and 
common  aspiration  on  the  evening  of  the  inauguration 
of  General  Grant,  and  had  so  often  insisted  that  he 
was  "the  friend  of  Mr.  Motley";  while,  as  if  it  was 
not  enough  to  insult  one  Massachusetts  citizen  in  the 
public  service,  the  same  document,  after  a  succession 
of  flings  and  sneers,  makes  a  kindred  assault  on  me; 
and  this  is  signed  by  one  who  so  constantly  called  me 
"  friend,"  and  asked  me  for  help.  The  Senator  from  Mis- 
souri [Mr.  SCHURZ]  has  already  directed  attention  to  this 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  15 

assault,  and  has  expressed  his  judgment  upon  it,  —  con- 
fessing that  he  "  should  not  have  failed  to  feel  the  insult," 
and  then  exclaiming  with  just  indignation,  "when  such 
things  are  launched  against  any  member  of  this  body  it 
becomes  the  American  Senate  to  stand  by  him,  and  not 
to  attempt  to  disgrace  and  degrade  him  because  he  shows 
the  sensitiveness  of  a  gentleman."  *  It  is  easy  to  see 
how  this  Senator  regarded  the  conduct  of  the  Secretary. 
Nor  is  its  true  character  open  to  doubt,  especially  when 
we  consider  the  context  and  how  this  full-blown  person- 
ality naturally  flowered  out  of  the  whole  document. 

Mr.  Motley  in  his  valedictory  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment had  alluded  to  the  rumor  that  he  was  removed  on 
account  of  my  opposition  to  the  St.  Domingo  treaty. 
The  document  signed  by  the  Secretary,  while  mingling 
most  offensive  terms  with  regard  to  his  "friend"  in 
London,  thus  turns  upon  his  "  friend  "  in  Washington :  — 

"  It  remains  only  to  notice  Mr.  Motley's  adoption  of  a 
rumor,  which  had  its  origin  in  this  city  in  a  source  bitterly, 
personally,  and  vindictively  hostile  to  the  President. 

"  Mr.  Motley  says  it  has  been  rumored  that  he  was  '  re- 
moved from  the  post  of  Minister  to  England '  on  account  of 
the  opposition  made  by  an  '  eminent  Senator  who  honors  me 
[him]  with  his  friendship '  to  the  San  Domingo  treaty. 

"  Men  are  apt  to  attribute  the  causes  of  their  own  failures 
or  their  own  misfortunes  to  others  than  themselves,  and  to 
claim  association  or  seek  a  partnership  with  real  or  imagi- 
nary greatness  with  which  to  divide  their  sorrows  or  their 
mistakes.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  identity  of 
the  eminent  Senator  at  whose  door  Mr.  Motley  is  willing  to 
deposit  the  cause  of  his  removal.  But  he  is  entirely  rnis- 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Debate  of  March  10,  1871. 


16  PERSONAL   RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

taken  in  seeking  a  vicarious  cause  of  his  loss  in  confidence 
and  favor,  and  it  is  unworthy  of  Mr.  Motley's  real  merit  and 
ability,  and  injustice  to  the  venerable  Senator  alluded  to  (to 
whose  influence  and  urgency  he  was  originally  indebted  for  //  /.< 
nomination)  to  attribute  to  him  any  share  in  the  cause  of  his 
removal. 

"Mr.  Motley  must  know,  or  if  he  does  not  know  it  he* 
stands  alone  in  his  ignorance  of  the  fact,  that  many  Senators 
opposed  the  San  Domingo  treaty  openly,  generously,  and 
with  as  much  efficiency  as  did  the  distinguished  Senator  to 
whom  he  refers,  and  have  nevertheless  continued  to  enjoy  the 
undiminished  confidence  and  the  friendship  of  the  President, 
than  whom  no  man  living  is  more  tolerant  of  honest  and 
manly  differences  of  opinion,  is  more  single  or  sincere  in  his 
desire  for  the  public  welfare,  is  more  disinterested  or  regard- 
less of  what  concerns  himself,  is  more  frank  and  confiding  in 
his  own  dealings,  is  more  sensitive  to  a  betrayal  of  confidence, 
or  ivould  look  tvith  more  scorn  and  contempt  upon  one  who  uses 
the  words  and  assurances  of  friendship  to  cover  a  secret  and 
determined  purpose  of  hostility."  * 

The  eulogy  of  the  President  here  is  at  least  singular, 
when  it  is  considered  that  every  despatch  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  is  by  order  of  the  President ;  but  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  writer  of  this  despatch  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  set  all  rule  at  defiance.  If  beyond  paying  court 
to  the  President,  even  at  the  expense  of  making  him 
praise  himself,  the  concluding  sentence  of  this  elaborate 
passage,  so  full  of  gall  from  beginning  to  end,  had  any 
object,  if  it  were  anything  but  a  mountain  of  words,  it 
was  an  open  attempt  to  make  an  official  document  the 
vehicle  of  personal  insult  to  me,  and  this  personal  insult 
was  signed  "  Hamilton  Fish."  As  I  became  aware  of  it, 

•  Senate  Executive  Documents  (No.  11,  pp.  36,  37),  41st  Cong.  3d  Sess. 


PRESIDENT   AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  17 

and  found  also  that  it  was  regarded  by  others  in  the 
same  light,  I  was  distressed  and  perplexed.  I  could  not 
comprehend  it.  I  knew  not  why  the  Secretary  should 
step  so  far  out  of  his  way,  in  a  manner  absolutely  with- 
out precedent,  to  treat  me  with  ostentatious  indignity, 
especially  when  I  thought  that  for  years  I  had  been 
his  friend,  that  I  had  never  spoken  of  him  except  with 
kindness,  and  that  constantly  since  assuming  his  present 
duties  he  had  turned  to  me  for  help.  This  was  more 
incomprehensible  when  I  considered  how  utterly  ground- 
less were  all  his  imputations.  I  have  lived  in  vain 
if  such  an  attempt  on  me  can  fail  to  rebound  on  its 
author. 

Not  lightly  would  I  judge  an  ancient  friend.  For  a 
time  I  said  nothing  to  anybody  of  the  outrage,  hoping 
that  perhaps  the  Secretary  would  open  his  eyes  to  the 
true  character  of  the  document  he  had  signed  and  vol- 
unteer some  friendly  explanation.  Meanwhile  a  prop- 
osition to  resume  negotiations  was  received  from  Eng- 
land, and  the  Secretary,  it  seems,  desired  to  confer  with 
me  on  the  subject ;  but  there  was  evident  consciousness 
on  his  part  that  he  had  done  wrong,  for,  instead  of  com- 
ing to  me  at  once,  he  sent  for  Mr.  Patterson  of  the 
Senate,  and  telling  him  that  he  wished  to  confer  with 
me,  added  that  he  did  not  know  precisely  what  were  his 
relations  with  me  and  how  I  should  receive  him.  With- 
in a  brief  fortnight  I  had  been  in  conference  with  him 
at  the  State  Department  and  had  dined  at  his  house, 
besides  about  the  same  time  making  a  call  there.  Yet 
he  was  in  doubt  about  his  relations  with  me.  Plainly 
because  since  the  conference,  the  dinner,  and  the  call, 
the  document  signed  by  him  had  been  communicated  to 
the  Senate,  and  the  conscience-struck  Secretary  did  not 


18  PERSONAL  RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

know  how  I  should  take  it.  Mr.  Patterson  asked  me 
what  he  should  report.  I  replied,  that  should  the  Secre- 
tary come  to  my  house  he  would  be  received  as  an  old 
friend,  and  that  at  any  time  I  should  be  at  his  service 
for  consultation  on  public  business,  but  that  I  could  not 
conceal  my  deep  sense  of  personal  wrong  received  from 
him  absolutely  without  reason  or  excuse.  That  this 
message  was  communicated  by  Mr.  Patterson  I  can- 
not doubt,  for  the  Secretary  came  to  my  house  and  there 
was  a  free  conference.  How  frankly  I  spoke  on  public 
questions  without  one  word  on  other  things  the  Secre- 
tary knows.  He  will  remember  if  any  inquiry,  remark, 
or  allusion  escaped  from  me  except  in  reference  to  pub- 
lic business.  The  interview  was  of  business  and  noth- 
ing else. 

On  careful  reflection  it  seemed  to  me  plain,  that, 
while  meeting  the  Secretary  officially,  it  would  not  be 
consistent  with  self-respect  for  me  to  continue  personal 
relations  with  one  who  had  put  his  name  to  a  document 
which,  after  protracted  fury  toward  another,  contained  a 
studied  insult  to  me,  where  the  fury  is  intensified  rather 
than  tempered  by  too  obvious  premeditation.  Public 
business  must  not  suffer;  but  in  such  a  case  personal 
relations  naturally  cease ;  and  this  rule  I  have  followed 
since.  Is  there  any  Senator  who  would  have  done  less  ? 
Are  there  not  many  who  would  have  done  more  ?  I  am 
at  a  loss  to  understand  how  the  Secretary  could  expect 
anything  beyond  those  official  relations  which  I  declared 
my  readiness  at  all  times  to  maintain,  and  which,  even 
after  his  assault  on  me,  he  was  willing  to  seek  at  my 
own  house.  To  expect  more  shows  on  his  part  grievous 
insensibility  to  the  thing  lie  had  done.  Whatever  one 
signs  he  makes  his  own,  and  the  Secretary,  when  he 


PRESIDENT   AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  19 

signed  this  document,  adopted  a  libel  upon  his  friend, 
and  when  he  communicated  it  to  the  Senate  he  pub- 
lished the  libel.  Nothing  like  it  can  be  shown  in  the 
history  of  our  Government.  It  stands  alone.  The  Sec- 
retary is  alone.  Like  Jean  Paul  in  German  literature 
his  just  title  will  be  "the  only  one."  For  years  I  have 
known  Secretaries  of  State,  and  often  differed  from 
them,  but  never  before  did  I  receive  from  one  anything 
but  kindness.  Never  before  did  a  Secretary  of  State 
sign  a  document  libelling  an  associate  in  the  public 
service,  and  publish  it  to  the  world.  Never  before  did  a 
Secretary  of  State  so  entirely  set  at  defiance  every  sen- 
timent of  friendship.  It  is  impossible  to  explain  this 
strange  aberration  except  from  the  disturbing  influence 
of  St.  Domingo.  But  whatever  its  origin,  its  true  char- 
acter is  beyond  question. 

As  nothing  like  this  State  paper  can  be  shown  in  the 
history  of  our  Government,  so  also  nothing  like  it  can 
be  shown  in  the  history  of  other  Governments.  Not  an 
instance  can  be  named  in  any  country  where  a  person- 
age in  corresponding  official  position  has  done  such  a 
thing.  The  American  Secretary  is  alone,  not  only  in 
his  own  country,  but  in  all  countries ;  "  none  but  him- 
self can  be  his  parallel."  Seneca  in  the  Hercules  Furens 
has  pictured  him : 

"  Quaeris  Alcidae  parem  ? 
Nemo  est  nisi  ipse." 

He  is  originator  and  first  inventor  with  all  prerogatives 
and  responsibilities  thereto  belonging. 

I  have  mentioned  only  one  sally  in  this  painful  docu- 
ment; but  the  whole,  besides  its  prevailing  offensive- 
ness,  shows  inconsistency  with  actual  facts  of  my  own 
knowledge,  which  is  in  entire  harmony  with  the  reckless- 


20  PERSONAL  RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

ness  toward  me  and  attests  the  same  spirit  throughout. 
Tims  we  have  the  positive  allegation  that  the  death  of 
Lord  Clarendon,  June  27,  1870,  "determined  tlie  time 
for  inviting  Mr.  Motley  to  make  place  for  a  successor," 
•when,  in  point  of  fact,  some  time  before  his  Lordship's 
illness  even,  the  Secretary  had  invited  me  to  go  to  Lon- 
don as  Mr.  Motley's  successor,  —  thus  showing  that  the 
explanation  of  Lord  Clarendon's  death  was  an  after- 
thought when  it  became  important  to  divert  attention 
from  the  obvious  dependence  of  the  removal  upon  the 
defeat  of  the  St.  Domingo  treaty. 

A  kindred  inconsistency  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
"London  Times"  in  its  article  of  January  24,  1871,  on 
the  document  signed  by  the  Secretary.  Here,  according 
to  this  journal,  the  document  supplied  the  means  of 
correction,  since  it  set  forth  that  on  the  25th  June, 
two  days  before  Lord  Clarendon's  death,  Mr.  Motley's 
coming  removal  was  announced  in  a  London  journal. 
After  stating  the  alleged  dependence  of  the  removal 
upon  the  death  of  Lord  Clarendon,  the  journal,  holding 
the  scales,  remarks,  "  And  yet  there  is  at  least  one  cir- 
cumstance appearing,  strange  to  say,  in  Mr.  Fish's  own 
despatch,  which  is  not  quite  consistent  with  the  explana- 
tion he  sets  up  of  Mr.  Motley's  recall."  Then,  after 
quoting  from  the  document,  and  mentioning  that  its  own 
correspondent  at  Philadelphia  did  on  the  25th  June 
"send  us  a  message  that  Mr.  Motley  was  about  to  be 
withdrawn,"  the  journal  mildly  concludes,  that, "  as  this 
was  two  days  before  Lord  Clarendon's  death,  which  was 
unforeseen  here  and  could  not  have  been  expected  in 
the  States,  it  is  difficult  to  connect  the  resolution  to  super- 
sede Uti  lute  American  minister  with  the  change  at  our 
Foreign  Office."  The  difficulty  of  the  "Times "  is  increased 
by  the. earlier  incident  with  regard  to  myself. 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  21 

Not  content  with  making  the  removal  depend  upon 
the  death  of  Lord  Clarendon  when  it  was  heralded 
abroad,  not  only  before  the  death  of  this  minister  had 
occurred  but  while  it  \vas  yet  unforeseen,  the  document 
seeks  to  antedate  the  defeat  of  the  St.  Domingo  treaty, 
so  as  to  interpose  "weeks  and  months"  between  the 
latter  event  and  the  removal.  The  language  is  explicit. 
"  The  treaty,"  says  the  document,  "  was  admitted  to  be 
practically  dead,  and  was  wanting  only  the  formal  action 
of  the  Senate  for  weeks  and  months  before  the  decease  of 
the  illustrious  statesman  of  Great  Britain."  "Weeks  and 
months !  And  yet  during  the  last  month,  when  the 
treaty  "  was  admitted  to  be  practically  dead,"  the  Secre- 
tary who  signed  the  document  passed  three  hours  at  my 
house,  pleading  with  me  to  withdraw  my  opposition, 
and  finally  wound  up  by  tender  to  me  of  the  English 
mission,  with  no  other  apparent  object  than  simply  to 
get  me  out  of  the  \vay. 

Then  again  we  have  the  positive  allegation  that  the 
President  embraced  an  opportunity  "  to  prevent  any 
further  misapprehension  of  his  views  through  Mr.  Mot- 
ley by  taking  from  him  the  right  to  discuss  further  the 
Alabama  claims,"  whereas  the  Secretary  in  a  letter  to 
me  at  Boston,  dated  at  Washington,  October  9,  1869, 
informs  me  that  the  discussion  of  the  question  was 
withdrawn  from  London,  "became  [the  italics  are  the 
Secretary's]  we  think  that  when  renewed  it  can  be 
carried  on  here  with  a  better  prospect  of  settlement 
than  where  the  late  attempt  at  a  convention  which 
resulted  so  disastrously  and  was  conducted  so  strangely 
was  had " ;  and  what  the  Secretary  thus  wrote  he  re- 
peated in  conversation  when  we  met,  carefully  making 
the  transfer  to  Washington  depend  upon  our  advantage 


22  PERSONAL   RELATIONS   WITH    THE 

here,  from  the  presence  of  the  Senate,  —  thus  showing 
that  the  pretext  put  forth  to  wound  Mr.  Motley  was  an 
afterthought. 

Still  further,  the  document  signed  by  the  Secretary 
alleges,  by  way  of  excuse  for  removing  Mr.  Motley, 
"  the  important  public  consideration  of  having  a  rep- 
resentative in  sympathy  with  the  President's  view.-." 
whereas,  when  the  Secretary  tendered  the  mission  to 
me,  no  allusion  was  made  to  "  sympathy  with  the  Presi- 
dent's views,"  while  Mr.  Motley,  it  appears,  was  charged 
with  agreeing  too  much  with  me,  —  all  of  which  shows 
how  little  this  matter  had  to  do  with  the  removal,  and 
how  much  the  St.  Domingo  business  at  the  time  was 
above  any  question  of  conformity  on  other  things. 

In  the  amiable  passage  already  quoted  there  is  a 
parenthesis  which  breathes  the  prevailing  spirit.  By 
way  of  aspersion  on  Mr.  Motley  and  myself  the  country 
is  informed  that  he  was  indebted  for  his  nomination  to 
"  influence  and  urgency  "  on  my  part.  Of  the  influence 
I  know  nothing ;  but  I  deny  positively  any  "  urgency." 
I  spoke  with  the  President  on  this  subject  once  casually, 
on  the  stairs  of  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  then  again 
in  a  formal  interview.  And  here,  since  the  effort  of  the 
Secretary,  I  shall  frankly  state  what  I  said  and  how  it 
was  introduced.  I  began  by  remarking,  that,  with  the 
permission  of  the  President,  I  should  venture  to  suggest 
the  expediency  of  continuing  Mr.  Marsh  in  Italy,  Mr. 
Morris  at  Constantinople,  and  Mr.  Bancroft  at  Berlin,  as 
all  these  exerted  a  peculiar  influence  and  did  honor  to 
our  country.  To  this  list  I  proposed  to  add  Dr.  Howe 
in  Greece,  believing  that  he,  too,  would  do  honor  to  our 
country,  and  also  Mr.  Motley  in  London,  who,  I  sug- 
gested, would  have  an  influence  there  beyond  his  official 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY  OF  STATE.  23 

position.  The  President  said  that  nobody  should  be 
•  sent  to  London  who  was  not  "  right "  on  the  claims 
question,  and  he  kindly  explained  to  me  what  he  meant 
by  "  right."  From  this  time  I  had  no  conversation  with 
him  about  Mr.  Motley,  until  after  the  latter  had  left  for 
his  post,  when  the  President  volunteered  to  express  his 
great  satisfaction  in  the  appointment.  Such  was  the 
extent  of  my  "  urgency  " ;  nor  was  I  much  in  advance  of 
the  Secretary  at  that  time,  for  he  showed  me  what  was 
called  the  "brief"  at  the  State  Department  for  the 
English  mission  with  Mr.  Motley's  name  at  the  head  of 
the  list. 

Other  allusions  to  myself  would  be  cheerfully  for- 
gotten if  they  were  not  made  the  pretext  to  assail  Mr. 
Motley,  who  is  held  to  severe  account  for  supposed  de- 
pendence on  me.  If  this  were  crime,  not  the  Minister 
but  the  Secretary  should  suffer,  for  it  is  the  Secretary 
and  not  the  Minister  who  appealed  to  me  constantly  for 
help,  often  desiring  me  to  think  for  him,  and  more  than 
once  to  hold  the  pen  for  him.  But,  forgetting  his  own 
relations  with  me,  the  Secretary  turns  upon  Mr.  Motley, 
who  never  asked  me  to  think  for  him  or  to  hold  the 
pen  for  him.  Other  things  the  Secretary  also  forgot. 
He  forgot  that  the  blow  he  dealt,  whether  at  Mr.  Motley 
or  myself,  rudely  tore  the  veil  from  the  past,  so  far  as  its 
testimony  might  be  needed  in  elucidation  of  the  truth ; 
that  the  document  he  signed  was  a  challenge  and  provo- 
cation to  meet  him  on  the  facts  without  reserve  or 
concealment;  that  the  wantonness  of  assault  on  Mr. 
Motley  was  so  closely  associated  with  that  on  me,  that 
any  explanation  I  might  make  must  be  a  defence  of 
him ;  that  even  if  duty  to  the  Senate  and  myself  did 
not  require  this  explanation,  there  are  other  duties  not 


24  PERSONAL  RELATIONS  WITH   THE 

to  be  disregarded,  among  which  is  duty  to  the  absent, 
who  cannot  be  permitted  to  suffer  unjustly,  —  duty  to 
a  much-injured  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  who  may 
properly  look  to  a  Senator  of  his  State  for  protection 
against  official  wrong,  —  duty  also  to  a  public  servant 
insulted  beyond  precedent,  who,  besides  writing  and 
speaking  most  effectively  for  the  Republican  party  and 
for  this  Administration,  has  added  to  the  renown  of  our 
country  by  unsurpassed  success  in  literature,  commend- 
ing him  to  the  gratitude  and  good-will  of  all.  These 
things  the  Secretary  strangely  forgot  when  he  dealt  the 
blow  which  tore  the  veil. 

The  crime  of  the  Minister  was  dependence  on  me.  So 
says  the  State  paper.  A  simple  narrative  will  show 
who  is  the  criminal.  My  early  relations  with  the  Sec- 
retary have  already  appeared,  and  how  he  began  by 
asking  me  for  help,  practising  constantly  on  this  appeal. 
A  few  details  will  be  enough.  At  once,  on  his  arrival 
to  assume  his  new  duties,  he  asked  my  counsel  about 
appointing  Mr.  Bancroft  Davis  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State,  and  I  advised  the  appointment,  without  sufficient 
knowledge  I  am  inclined  to  believe  now.  Then  followed 
the  questions  with  Spain  growing  out  of  Cuba,  which 
were  the  subject  of  constant  conference,  where  he  sought 
me  repeatedly  and  kindly  listened  to  my  opinions. 
Then  came  the  instructions  for  the  English  mission 
known  as  the  despatch  of  May  16,  1869.  At  each  stage 
of  these  instructions  I  was  in  the  counsels  of  the  Sec- 
retary. Following  my  suggestion  he  authorized  me  to 
invite  Mr.  Motley  in  his  name  to  prepare  the  "  memoir  " 
or  essay  on  our  claims,  which,  notwithstanding  its  en- 
tirely confidential  character,  he  drags  before  the  world, 
for  purpose  of  assault,  in  a  manner  clearly  unjustifiable. 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY  OF   STATE.  25 

Then,  as  the  despatch  was  preparing,  he  asked  my  help 
especially  in  that  part  relating  to  the  concession  of  bel- 
ligerent rights.  I  have  here  the  first  draft  of  this  im- 
portant passage  in  pencil  and  in  my  own  handwriting, 
varying  in  no  essential  respect  from  that  adopted.  Here 
will  be  found  the  distinction  on  which  I  have  always 
insisted,  that  while'  other  Powers  conceded  belligerent 
rights  to  our  rebels,  it  was  in  England  only  that  the 
concession  was  supplemented  by  acts  causing  direct 
damage  to  the  United  States.  Not  long  afterward,  in 
August,  1869,  when  the  British  storm  had  subsided, 
I  advised  that  the  discussion  should  be  renewed  by  an 
elaborate  communication,  setting  forth  our  case  in  length 
and  breadth,  but  without  any  estimate  of  damages, 
throwing  upon  England  the  opportunity,  if  not  the 
duty,  of  making  some  practical  proposition.  Adopting 
this  recommendation,  the  Secretary  invited  me  to  write 
the  despatch.  I  thought  it  better  that  it  should  be  done 
by  another,  and  I  named  for  this  purpose  an  accom- 
plished gentleman,  whom  I  knew  to  be  familiar  with 
the  question,  and  he  wrote  the  despatch.  This  paper, 
bearing  date  September  25,  1869,  is  unquestionably  the 
ablest  in  the  history  of  the  present  Administration, 
unless  we  except  the  last  despatch  of  Mr.  Motley. 

In  a  letter  dated  at  Washington,  October  15, 1869,  and 
addressed  to  me  at  Boston,  the  Secretary  describes  this 
paper  in  the  following  terms :  "  The  despatch  to  Motley 
(which  I  learn  by  a  telegram  from  him  has  been  received) 
is  a  calm,  full  review  of  our  entire  case,  making  no 
demand,  no  valuation  of  damages,  but  I  believe  cover- 
ing all  the  ground  and  all  the  points  that  have  been 
made  on  our  side.  I  hope  that  it  will  meet  your  views. 
I  think  it  will.  It  leaves  the  question  with  Great  Britain 


26  PERSONAL   RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

to  determine  when  any  negotiations  are  to  be  renewed." 
The  Secretary  was  right  in  his  description.  It  was 
"  a  full  review  of  our  whole  case,"  "  covering  all  the 
ground  and  all  the  points";  and  it  did  meet. my  views, 
as  the  Secretary  thought  it  would,  especially  where  it 
arraigned  so  strongly  that  fatal  concession  on  belligerent 
rights  on  the  ocean,  which  in  any  faithful  presentment 
of  the  national  cause  will  always  be  the  first  stage  of 
evidence,  since  without  this  precipitate  and  voluntary 
act  the  common  law  of  England  was  a  positive  protec- 
tion against  the  equipment  of  a  corsair  ship,  or  even  the 
supply  of  a  blockade-runner  for  unacknowledged  rebels. 
The  conformity  of  this  despatch  with  my  views  was  rec- 
ognized by  others  besides  the  Secretary.  It  is  well  known 
that  Lord  Clarendon  did  not  hesitate  in  familiar  con- 
versation to  speak  of  it  as  "  Mr.-  Sumner's  speech  over 
again";  while  another  English  personage  said  that  it 
out-Sumnered  Sumner."  And  yet  with  his  name  signed 
to  this  despatch,  written  at  my  suggestion,  and  in  entire 
conformity  with  my  views,  as  admitted  by  him  and  rec- 
ognized by  the  English  Government,  the  Secretary  taunts 
Mr.  Motley  for  supposed  harmony  with  me  on  this  very 
question.  This  taunt  is  still  more  unnatural  when  it  is 
known  that  this  despatch  is  in  similar  conformity  with 
the  "  memoir  "  of  Mr.  Motley,  and  was  evidently  written 
with  knowledge  of  that  admirable  document,  where  the 
case  of  our  country  is  stated  with  perfect  mastery.  But 
the  story  does  not  end  here. 

On  the  communication  of  this  despatch  to  the  British 
Government,  Mr.  Thornton  was  instructed  to  ascertain 
what  would  be  accepted  by  our  Government,  when  the 
Secretary,  under  date  of  Washington,  November  6, 1869, 
reported  to  me  this  application,  and  then,  after  express- 


PRESIDENT  AND   SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  27 

ing  unwillingness  to  act  on  it  until  he  "  could  have  an 
opportunity  of  consulting "  me,  he  wrote,  "  When  will 
you  be  here  ?  Will  you  either  note  what  you  think  will 
be  sufficient  to  meet  the  views  of  the  Senate  and  of  the 
country,  or  will  you  formulate  such  proposition  ?  "  After 
this  responsible  commission,  the  letter  winds  up  with 
the  earnest  request :  "  Let  me  hear  from  you  as  soon  as 
you  can  [the  italics  are  the  Secretary's],  and  I  should 
like  to  confer  with  you  at  the  -earliest  convenient  time." 
On  my  arrival  at  Washington  the  Secretary  came  to  my 
house  at  once,  and  we  conferred  freely.  St.  Domingo 
had  not  yet  sent  its  shadow  into  his  soul. 

It  is  easily  seen  that  here  was  constant  and  reiterated 
appeal  to  me,  especially  on  our  negotiations  with  Eng- 
land, and  yet  in  the  face  of  this  testimony,  where  he  is 
the  unimpeachable  witness,  the  Secretary  is  pleased  to 
make  Mr.  Motley's  supposed  relations  with  me  the  occa- 
sion of  insult  to  him,  while,  as  if  this  were  not  enough, 
he  crowns  his  work  with  personal  assault  on  me,  —  all 
of  which,  whether  as  regards  Mr.  Motley  or  me,  is  beyond 
comprehension. 

How  little  Mr.  Motley  merited  anything  but  respect 
and  courtesy  from  the  Secretary  is  attested  by  all  who 
know  his  eminent  position  in  London,  and  the  service 
he  rendered  to  his  country.  Already  the  London  press, 
usually  slow  to  praise  Americans  when  strenuous  for 
their  country,  has  furnished  its  voluntary  testimony. 
The  "Daily  News"  of  August  16,  1870,  spoke  of  the 
insulted  minister  in  these  terms :  — 

"We  are  violating  no  confidence  in  saying  that  all  the 
hopes  of  Mr.  Motley's  official  residence  in  England  have  been 
amply  fulfilled,  and  that  the  announcement  of  his  unexpected 


* 

28  PERSONAL  RELATIONS   WITH   THE 

and  unexplained  recall  was  received  with  extreme  astonish- 
ment and  unfeigned  regret.  The  vacancy  he  leaves  cannot 
possibly  be  filled  by  a  Minister  more  sensitive  to  the  honor 
of  his  Government,  more  attentive  to  the  interests  of  his 
country,  and  more  capable  of  uniting  the  most  rigorous  per- 
formance of  his  public  duties  with  the  high-bred  courtesy 
and  conciliatory  tact  and  temper  that  make  those  duties 
easy  and  successful.  Mr.  Motley's  successor  will  find  his 
mission  wonderfully  facilitated  by  the  firmness  and  discre- 
tion that  have  presided  over  the  conduct  of  American  affairs 
in  this  country  during  too  brief  a  term,  too  suddenly  and 
unaccountably  concluded." 

The  London  press  had  not  the  key  to  this  extraordi- 
nary transaction.  It  knew  not  the  potency  of  the  St. 
Domingo  spell ;  nor  its  strange  influence  over  the  Secre- 
tary, even  breeding  insensibility  to  instinctive  amenities, 
and  awakening  peculiar  unfriendliness  to  Mr.  Motley,  so 
amply  certified  afterward  in  an  official  document  under 
his  own  hand, — all  of  which  burst  forth  with  more  than 
the  tropical  luxuriance  of  the  much-coveted  island. 

I  cannot  disguise  the  sorrow  with  which  I  offer  this 
explanation.  In  self-defence  and  for  the  sake  of  truth 
do  I  now  speak.  I  have  cultivated  forbearance,  and 
hoped  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that  I  might  do  so 
to  the  end.  But  beyond  the  call  of  the  public  press 
has  been  the  defiant  challenge  of  Senators,  and  also  the 
consideration  sometimes  presented  by  friends,  that  my 
silence  might  be  misinterpreted.  Tardily  and  most 
reluctantly  I  make  this  record,  believing  it  more  a  duty 
to  the  Senate  than  to  myself,  but  a  plain  duty  to  be 
performed  in  all  simplicity  without  reserve.  Having 
nothing  to  conceal,  and  willing  always  to  be  judged  by 
the  truth,  I  court  the  fullest  inquiry,  and  shrink  from 


PRESIDENT   AND    SECRETARY   OF   STATE.  29 

no  conclusion  founded  on  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
case. 

If  this  narration  enables  any  one  to  see  in  clearer 
light  the  injustice  done  to  Mr.  Motley,  then  have  I  per- 
formed a  further  duty  too  long  postponed ;  nor  will  it 
be  doubted  by  any  honest  nature,  that  since  the  assault 
of  the  Secretary  he  was  entitled  to  that  vindication 
which  is  found  in  a  statement  of  facts  within  my  own 
knowledge.  Anything  short  of  this  would  be  a  license 
to  the  Secretary  in  his  new  style  of  State  paper,  which, 
for  the  sake  of  the  public  service  and  of  good-will  among 
men,  must  be  required  to  stand  alone,  in  the  isolation 
which  becomes  its  abnormal  character.  Plainly  with- 
out precedent  in  the  past,  it  must  be  without  chance  of 
repetition  in  the  future. 

Here  I  stop.  My  present  duty  is  performed  when  I 
set  forth  the  simple  facts,  exhibiting  those  personal  rela- 
tions which  have  been  drawn  in  question,  without  touch- 
ing the  questions  of  principle  behind. 


THE  COMPLETE  WORKS 


CHARLES   SUMNER 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT. 


"  Not  ordinary  addresses,  —  they  remind  us  rather  of  the  Orations  of  De- 
mosthenes, —of  times  when  men  of  note,  endowed  with  the  highest  understand- 
iny,  gave  full  vent  to  the  feelings  that  possessed  them,  and  stiired  their 
country  with  a  fervid  eloquence  which  was  all  the  more  impressive  because  it 
related  to  the  political  circumstances  in  which  tlieir  country  was  placed."  — 
EDINBURGH  JOURNAL. 


THE    COMPLETE    WORKS 


CHARLES  SUMNER 

In  Fourteen  elegant  Crown  8vo  Volumes,  with  Portrait, 
Notes,  and  Index. 


"The  twelfth  volume  of  the  sumptuous  edition  of  Charles  Sumner's  works 
which  Lee  and  Shepard  are  publishing  is  now  ready,  and  is  being  distributed  to  the 
subscribers.  It  is  a  volume  of  more  than  common  interest.  It  contains  the  mono- 
graph entitled  '  Prophetic  Voices  concerning  America,'  hitherto  published  sepa- 
rately ;  'Are  we  a  Nation,'  the  thoughtful  and  important  address  delivered  at  the 
Cooper  Institute  in  New  York  in  1868  ;  a  half-dozen  speeches  concerning  the  im- 
peachment of  Andrew  Johnson,  delivered  in  the  Senate  Chamber ;  an  address  on 
'Financial  Reconstruction  through  Public  Faith  and  Specie  Payments,'  —  a  sub- 
ject of  quite  as  vital  interest  now  as  when  delivered  ;  and  an  address  on  the  Issues 
of  the  Presidential  Election  of  1868,  which  was  delivered  at  City  Hall,  Cambridge, 
in  October  of  that  year.  There  are  a  number  of  brief  letters  and  speeches  on  vari- 
ous political  subjects,  which  bring  the  volume  up  to  nearly  five  hundred  and  fifty 
pages.  Two  more  volumes  will  complete  the  publication." — Boston  Journal. 


Price  per  volume,  Fine  English  Cloth $3.00 

"          "  Half  Calf,  Gilt  Extra,  Library  Edition      5.00 

Sold  by  Subscription. 

PUBLISHED  BY  LEE  AND  SHEPARD, 

Nos,  41-45  franklin  Street,  Boston. 


The  Publishers  invite  attention  to  the  following  ex- 
tracts taken  from  the  mass  of  communications  and  tes- 
timonials received  from  prominent  and  leading  men  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  :  — 

From  Francis  Lieber. 

The  complete  works  of  Senator  Sumner  will  have  a  high  value 
for  the  earnest  student  who  desires  to  trace  the  causes  of  some 
of  the  greatest  movements  in  our  times,  —  the  times  of  political 
Reformation.  They  will  have  a  great  value  in  point  of  Political 
Ethics,  of  Statesmanship  (or  what  the  ancients  called  Politics), 
and  in  point  of  the  Psychology  of  our  own  nation,  in  point  of 
the  Law  of  Nations  and  for  every  English  scholar  and  admirer  of 
eloquence.  Not  only  will  the  works  of  Senator  Surnner,  after 
whose  title,  in  Rome,  the  words  "  Four  Times  in  Succession " 
would  have  been  put,  be  gladly  received  by  every  reflecting  pub- 
lic man  in  America,  but  also  by  every  high-minded  Nationalist 
and  lover  of  freedom  in  Europe. 


From  William  Cullen  Bryant. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  Mr.  Sumner's  works  are  to  be  collected 
and  published  under  his  own  superintendence  and  revision.  He 
ranks  among  our  most  eminent  public  men,  and  never  treats  of 
any  subject  without  shedding  new  light  upon  it,  and  giving  us 
reason  to  admire  both  his  ability  and  the  extent  and  accuracy  of 
his  information. 


From  Ralph   Waldo  Emerson. 

I  learn  with  interest  that  you  are  preparing  to  publish  a  com- 
plete collection  of  Mr.  Sumner's  writings  and  speeches.  They 
will  be  the  history  of  the  Republic  in  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
as  told  by  a  brave,  perfectly  honest,  and  well-instructed  man,  with 
large  social  culture,  and  relations  to  all  eminent  persons.  Few 
public  men  have  left  records  more  important,  —  none  more  blame- 
less. Mr.  Sumner's  large  ability,  his  careful  education,  his  indus- 
try, his  early  dedication  to  public  affairs,  his  power  of  exhaustive 


statement,  and  his  pure  character,  —  qualities  rarely  combined  in 
one  man,  —  have  been  the  strength  and  pride  of  the  Republic. 
In  Massachusetts,  the  patriotism  of  his  constituents  has  treated 
him  with  exceptional  regard.  The  ordinary  complaisances  ex- 
pected of  a  candidate  have  not  been  required  of  him,  it  being 
known  that  his  service  was  one  of  incessant  labor,  and  that  he  had 
small  leisure  to  plead  his  own  cause,  and  less  to  nurse  his  private 
interests.  There  will  be  the  more  need  of  the  careful  publication  in 
a  permanent  form  of  these  vindications  of  political  liberty  and 
morality. 

I  hope  that  Mr.  Sumner's  contributions  to  some  literary  journals 
will  not  be  omitted  in  your  collection. 


From  John  G.  Whittier. 

It  gives  me  much  satisfaction  to  learn  that  the  entire  speeches 
of  Mr.  Sumner  are  about  to  be  published.  Apart  from  their  great 
merit  in  a  literary  and  scholastic  point  of  view,  and  as  exhaustive 
arguments  upon  questions  of  the  highest  import,  they  have  a  cer- 
tain historic  value  which  will  increase  with  the  lapse  of  time. 
Whoever  wishes  to  understand  the  legislation  and  political  and 
moral  progress  of  the  country  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
must  study  these  remarkable  speeches.  I  am  heartily  glad  the 
publication  has  been  determined  upon,  and  wish  it  the  success  it 
deserves. 


From  Horace  Greeley. 

I  hail  it  as  a  cheering  sign  of  the  times  that  the  speeches  and 
writings  of  Charles  Sumner  are  to  be  published  complete.  We  live 
in  an  age  of  inconsiderate  gabble,  when  too  many  make  speeches 
"  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,"  and  "  now  that  I  am  up,"  say 
whatever  may  chance  to  come  into  their  heads.  Mr.  Sumner  suf- 
ficiently respects  his  associates  and  his  countrymen  to  speak  with 
due  preparation,  and  only  when  he  feels  that  silence  would  be 
dereliction.  "  Not  to  stir  without  great  arguments  "  is  his  rule ; 
hence  his  speeches  are  not  only  a  part  of  his  country's  history,  but 
a  very  creditable  and  instructive  part  of  it.  In  an  age  of  venality 
and  of  reckless  calumny,  no  man  has  ever  doubted  the  purity  of 
his  motives,  the  singleness  of  his  aims ;  and  if  the  august  title  of 


statesman  has  been  deserved  by  any  American  of  his  age,  he  is 
that  American.  I  trust  his  collected  writings  will  receive  wide 
currency,  as  I  am  sure  they  will  command  universal  consideration. 


From  Samuel  G.  Howe. 

I  think  that  your  proposed  edition  of  Mr.  Sumner's  Speeches 
will  do  much  good.  His  public  career  teaches  a  lesson  which 
should  be  learned  by  all  who  aspire  to  usefulness  and  true  great- 
ness. The  source  of  his  popularity  and  influence,  creditable  alike 
to  him  and  to  the  people,  is  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  right 
and  firm  faith  in  its  prevalence.  To  him,  whatever  is  right  is  ever 
expedient.  Be  the  political  horizon  ever  so  dark,  he  knows  the 
direction  of  the  pole-star,  and  steers  boldly  towards  it.  In  oppos- 
ing storms,  while  ordinary  politicians,  like  sailing  ships,  tack  and 
keep  as  near  the  wind  as  seems  safe,  he,  like  the  steamer,  steers 
straight  in  the  wind's  eye  ;  and  though  he  may,  for  the  moment, 
make  no  headway,  he  swerves  not,  larboard  nor  starboard.  Most 
statesmen  and  politicians  represent  certain  doctrines  or  party  in- 
terests; while  he  represents  the  moral  sense  of  the  people.  Where 
that  sense  is  most  developed,  there  he  is  best  understood  and  most 
esteemed.  A  new  edition  of  his  Speeches  will  help  to  develop  it 
still  more ;  and  it  is  for  that  end,  rather  than  building  a  mon- 
ument to  him,  that  his  friends  ought  to  co-operate  for  your  suc- 
cess. 


From  Caleb  Gushing. 

I  think  the  speeches,  disci  mrses,  and  miscellaneous  papers  of 
Mr.  Sumner  eminently  deserve  to  be  collected  and  published  in 
a  complete  form.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  there  may  be 
in  the  country  concerning  the  various  political  doctrines  which 
in  his  long  Senatorial  career  he  has  so  earnestly  and  so  steadily 
maintained,  certain  it  is  that  his  productions  constitute  an  essen- 
tial part  of  our  public  history  as  well  in  foreign  as  in  domestic 
relations ;  and  they  are  characterized  by  such  qualities  of  supe- 
rior intellectual  power,  cultivated  eloquence,  and  great  and  general 
accomplishment  and  statesmanship,  as  entitle  them  to  a  high 
and  permanent  place  in  the  political  literature  of  the  United 
States. 


From  James  Russell  Lowell. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  have  undertaken  an  edition  of  Mr. 
Sumner's  collected  works.  There  is  a  manifest  propriety  in  this, 
for  not  only  has  he  made  many  contributions  to  literature  proper, 
but  his  speeches  have  been  elaborated  with  so  much  care,  and 
illustrated  from  so  wide  a  field  of  reading,  that  letters  claim  in 
them  an  equal  share  with  politics.  Whatever  view  may  be  taken 
of  them,  they  form  an  essential  part  of  our  history  for  the  last 
twenty  years. 

Though  I  have  sometimes  been  unable  to  go  along  with  Mr. 
Sumner  in  his  application  of  opinions,  with  which  I  mainly  agreed, 
to  questions  of  immediate  policy,  I  have  always  duly  honored  the 
sincerity  of  his  convictions,  and  his  courage  in  maintaining  them. 
A  life  of  high  aims,  public  purposes,  and  sustained  integrity,  has 
been  fully  rewarded  by  a  constituency  of  which  that  which  he 
represents  in  the  Senate  forms  but  a  small  portion,  and  I  cannot 
doubt  that  your  enterprise  will  be  welcomed  as  it  deserves  by  all 
who  know  how  to  appreciate  an  eloquence  which  has  so  largely 
confined  itself  to  the  discussion  of  principles,  and  a  culture  which 
is  an  ornament  to  the  Senate. 


•  From  George  William  Curtis. 

I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  the  complete  works  of  Charles 
Sumner  will  soon  be  published. 

Mr.  Sumner's  public  life  has  been  illustrious  for  his  unswerving 
devotion  to  human  liberty,  and  his  service  in  the  great  struggle 
of  the  last  twenty  years  will  be  always  gratefully  remembered. 
Even  the  qualities  that  now  alienate  a  certain  sympathy  will  then 
be  seen  to  have  been  necessary  to  his  work. 

His  speeches  are  an  essential  part  of  the  history  of  those  times, 
and  are  distinguished  by  their  ample  knowledge  and  their  lofty 
tone.  There  is  no  American  citizen  who  may  not  study  his  works 
with  instruction,  no  American  statesman  who  may  not  contem- 
plate his  career  with  advantage. 


8 

From  Benjamin  F.  Butler. 

I  am  much  pleased  to  learn  that  a  complete  compilation  of  Mr. 
Sumner's  speeches  and  letters  is  to  be  published. 

They  are  a  desideratum  for  the  times.  The  history  of  the  anti- 
slavery  contest  in  Congress  is  therein  written  in  living  language, 
because  each  speech  made  of  itself  an  epoch  in  the  struggle.  The 
almost  providential  accident  of  one  vote  gave  to  Mr.  Sumner  the 
position  ol  leader  in  the  great  work  which  has  purged  the  institu- 
tions, the  very  constitution  of  the  country,  from  the  sin  and  wrong 
of  slavery;  and  nobly  has  he  filled  it;  better,  indeed,  than  could 
have  been  done  by  any  other  man  in  the  nation.  The  virulent  op- 
position which  he  met  in  the  great  task  which  he  undertook  re- 
quired his  varied  accomplishments  and  learning,  his  untiring 
industry,  and  unswerving  devotion  to  principle,  — qualities  sel- 
dom united  in  one.  The  history  of  the  regeneration  of  Republican 
Democracy  in  the  western  world  would  not  be  complete  without 
the  volumes  you  are  about  to  publish. 


From  Henry  Wilson. 

I  am  really  gratified  to  learn  that  you  are  to  publish  the  com- 
plete works  of  Mr.  Sumner,  under  his  own  supervision.  During 
the  past  twenty-five  years  I  have  known  him,  watched  his  course 
as  a  public  man,  heard  and  read  his  speeches,  and  know  how  he 
has  consecrated  talents  and  learning  to  the  rights  of  man  and  the 
enduring  interests  of  his  country.  His  speeches  have  largely  con- 
tributed to  produce  the  grand  results  that  cheer  and  bless  us,  and 
I  am  sure  they  will  be  read  with  increasing  interest,  not  only  for 
the  topics  discussed,  but  for  their  learning  and  eloquence. 


From  Wendell  Phillips. 

I  am  glad  you  are  to  give  us  a  complete  collection  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's Speeches.  His  part  and  place  have  been  such  in  the  last 
twenty  years,  that  his  career  is  largely  the  history  of  the  Nation. 
His  speeches  cover  the  most  important  and  interesting  questions 
we  have  been  called  to  meet.  Years  ago  the  easy  sneer  was  that 
he  was  a  man  of  "  one  idea,"  —  dealt  only  with  one  question,  or 
one  class  of  questions. 


But  Mr.  Sumner  has  been  one  of  the  most  industrious,  perhaps 
the  most  industrious,  Senator  that  Massachusetts  has  ever  given 
to  the  national  councils.  His  mind  has  been  more  comprehensive 
than  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  has  grappled  with  all 
the  great  problems  of  the  day ;  and  so  thoroughly,  so  exhaustively, 
as  to  leave  nothing  to  desire. 

Accurate,  profoundly  learned,  always  in  the  van,  fearless,  wield- 
ing a  most  commanding  influence,  his  speeches  will  be  the  most 
valuable  contribution  possible  to  the  literature  of  politics  and  re- 
form. They  have  "  made  history,"  and  will  naturally  be  the  best 
reliance  of  those  who  shall  study  our  times,  as  his  career  will  be, 
both  for  students  and  statesmen,  one  of  the  noblest  examples. 


By  Hon.  John  P.  Hale,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  August  27, 
1851,  in  the  debate  after  Mr.  Sumner's  Speech  entitled  "  Freedom  Na- 
tional, Slavery  Sectional." 

I  feel  bound  to  say  that  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Massachu- 
setts has,  so  far  as  his  own  personal  fame  and  reputation  are  con- 
cerned, done  enough,  by  the  effort  he  has  made  here  to-day  to 
place  himself  side  by  side  with  the  first  orators  of  antiquity,  and 
as  far  ahead  of  any  living  American  orator  as  freedom  is  ahead  of 
slavery.  I  believe  he  has  founded  a  new  era  to-day  in  the  history 
of  the  politics  and  of  the  eloquence  of  the  country ;  and  that,  in 
future  generations,  the  young  men  of  this  nation  will  be  stim- 
ulated to  effort  by  the  record  of  what  an  American  Senator  has 
this  day  done,  to  which  all  the  appeals  drawn  from  ancient  history 
would  be  entirely  inadequate.  Yes,  sir,  he  has  to-day  made  a 
draft  upon  the  gratitude  of  the  friends  of  humanity  and  of  liberty 
that  will  not  be  paid  through  many  generations,  and  the  memory 
of  which  shall  endure  as  long  as  the  English  language  is  spoken, 
or  the  history  of  this  Republic  forms  part  of  the  annals  of  the 
world.  That,  sir,  is  what  I  feel,  and  if  I  had  one  other  feeling, 
or  could  indulge  in  it  in  reference  to  that  effort,  it  would  be  a 
feeling  alway,  that  it  was  not  in  me  to  tread,  even  at  a  humble 
distance,  in  the  path  he  has  so  nobly  and  eloquently  illustrated. 


10 

From  Hannibal  Hamlin. 

I  learn  with  great  pleasure  that  the  complete  works  of  Hon. 
Charles  Sumner  are  being  now  prepared,  and  will  soon  be  pub- 
lished. 

The  high  position  which  Mr.  Sumner  has  so  long  and  so  honor- 
ably maintained  as  one  of  the  leading  minds  of  the  nation,  his  in- 
timate connection  with  and  lead  in  the  great  measure  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  and  all  the  great  questions  of  the  late  Avar, 
and  those  involved  in  a  just  settlement  of  the  same,  render  it  a 
desideratum  that  his  works  should  be  published. 


From  S.  Austin  Allibone. 

I  have  been  in  the  habit  for  some  years  past,  from  time  to  time, 
of  urging  my  valued  friend,  Mr.  Sumner,  to  publish  a  collective 
edition  of  his  speeches.  You  may  therefore  imagine  the  pleasure 
with  which  I  have  received  the  announcement  that  you  are  now 
engaged  in  the  publication  of  a  uniform  edition  of  his  complete 
works. 

One  of  the  favorite  pupils  of  Judge  Story,  who  considered  him 
rather  as  a  son  than  as  his  pupil  (see  Story's  Life  and  Letters,  Vol.  II. 
p.  39),  the  endeared  friend  of  Prescott,  Wheaton,  the  Earl  of  Car- 
lisle, and  many  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  Mr.  Sumner's  opportunities  of  instruction  by  con- 
tact with  great  minds  have  matured  the  scholarship  of  which  the 
broad  and  deep  foundations  were  laid  in  the  laborious  days  and 
nights  of  collegiate  and  private  application. 

The  "  fulness  "  of  his  mind  and  the  ease  with  which  he  draws  from 
the  vast  stores  of  memory  "  things  new  and  old  "  to  illustrate  the 
truths  which  lie  enforces,  the  errors  he  exposes,  or  the  themes  he 
propounds,  are  indeed  marvellous !  See  for  instance,  his  oration, 
entitled,  "  The  Scholar,  the  Jurist,  the  Artist,  the  Philanthropist.'1 
(1846),  of  which  Prescott  wrote :  "  I  have  read  or  rather  listened  to 
it,  notes  and  all,  with  the  greatest  interest;  and  when  I  say  that 
my  expectations  have  not  been  disappointed  after  having  heard  it 
cracked  up  so,  I  think  you  will  think  it  praise  enough.  The 
most  happy  conception  has  been  carried  out  admirably,  as  if  it 
were  the  most  natural  order  of  things,  without  the  least  constraint 
or  violence."  (Ticknor's  Life  of  Prescott,  p.  378.)  Among  his  late 


11 

speeches,  take  his  graphic  and  glowing  portraiture  of  Alaska,  over 
the  sterile  soil  of  which  the  light  of  his  genius  has  cast  a  glow  of 
bloom  and  beauty;  which  as  a  geographical  and  topographical 
monograph  might  have  excited  the  envy  of  D'Anville  or  Hum- 
boldt.  A  complete  collection  of  his  works,  fully  rounded  by  a 
copious  analytical  index  of  subjects  discussed,  topics  referred  to, 
and  facts  adduced,  would  be  an  invaluable  treasury  to  the  scholar, 
the  historian,  and  the  general  reader. 


From  Edwin  P.   Whipple. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  a  complete  edition  of  Senator  Sumner's 
works  is  to  be  published. 

Not  to  speak  of  the  eminent  literary  merit  of  his  speeches  and 
addresses,  they  are  specially  valuable  as  having  contributed  in  an  im- 
portant degree  to  "make  history"  during  the  past  twenty-five 
years.  Many  of  his  senatorial  efforts  are  not  so  much  speeches  as 
events.  They  have  palpably  advanced  the  cause  of  honesty,  jus- 
tice, freedom,  and  humanity.  It  is  to  the  immense  honor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts that  she  has  had  for  so  long  a  time  so  noble  a  representa- 
tive in  Washington  of  her  sentiments  and  ideas,  —  one  whose 
abundant  learning,  richness  and  reach  of  thought,  and  statesman- 
like forethought  are  combined  with  a  philanthropy  so  frank  and 
a  spirit  so  intrepid. 

A  complete  edition  of  the  works  of  a  statesman  so  variously 
endowed,  and  who  has  treated  so  many  subjects  with  such  a  mas- 
terly command  of  knowledge,  reasoning,  and  eloquence,  cannot 
fail  to  be  widely  circulated. 

From  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 

The  Orations  of  Mr.  Sumner  belong  to  the  literature  of  Amer- 
ica. They  are  as  far  superior  to  the  endless  number  of  orations 
and  speeches  which  are  delivered  throughout  the  country  as  the 
works  of  a  polished,  talented,  and  accomplished  author  surpass 
the  ephemeral  productions  of  a  day.  Pure  and  highly  classical 
in  style,  strong  in  argument,  and  rich  and  glowing  in  imagery, 
and  in  some  parts  almost  reaching  the  poetic,  they  come  to  the 
reader  always  fresh,  always  interesting  and  attractive.  In  one 
respect  these  orations  surpass  almost  all  others. .  It  is  in  the  ele- 
vation of  sentiment,  the  high  and  lofty  moral  tone  and  grandeur 


12 

of  thought  which  they  possess.  In  this  particular,  united  with 
their  literary  merit,  these  productions  have  no  equal  among  us. 
The  one  on  the  "  True  Grandeur  of  Nations  "  stands  forth  by 
itself,  like  a  serene  and  majestic  image,  cut  from  the  purest  Parian 
marble.  Those  on  "  Peace  and  War,"  and  two  or  three  others, 
possess  equal  merit,  equal  beauty,  and  equal  purity  and  dignity 
of  thought.  In  our  view,  these  orations  approach  nearer  the 
models  of  antiquity  than  those  of  any  other  writer  amongst  us, 
unless  it  be  Webster,  whom  Sumner  greatly  surpasses  in  moral 
tone  and  dignity  of  thought 


Many  of  the  distingui-hed  statesmen  and  scholars  of  our  country, 
nou  deceased,  left  on  record  their  opinion  of  the  character  and  value 
of  Mr.  Sumner's  public  services.  From  among  these  a  few  are 
selected. 

From  John  Quincy  Adams. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Sumner  immediately  after  the  de- 
livery of  the  celebrated  oration,  "  The  Scholar,  the  Artist,  the 
Jurist,  the  Philanthropist,"  Mr.  Adams  remarks :  — 

"  It  is  a  gratification  to  me  to  have  the  opportunity  to  repeat 
the  thanks  which  I  so  cordially  gave  you  at  the  close  of  your  ora- 
tion last  Thursday,  and  of  which  the  sentiment  offered  by  me  at 
the  dinner-table,*  was  but  an  additional  pulsation  from  the  same 
head.  I  trust  I  may  now  congratulate  you  on  the  felicity,  first  of 
your  selection  of  your  subject,  and  secondly,  by  its  consummation 
in  the  delivery.  But  you  will  indulge  me  in  the  frankness  and 
candor,  which  if  they  had  not  been  the  laws  of  a  long  life,  would 
yet  be  imperative  duties  on  its  last  stage,  in  the  remark  that  the 
pleasure  with  which  I  listened  to  your  discourse  was  inspired  far 
less  by  the  success,  and  all  but  universal  acceptance  and  applause 
of  the  present  moment,  than  by  the  vista  of  the  future  which  it 
opened  to  my  view. '  Casting  my  eyes  back  no  further  than  the 
Fourth  of  July  of  the  last  year,  when  you  set  all  the  vipers  of 
Alecto  hissing,  by  proclaiming  the  Christian  law  of  Universal 
Peace  and  Love,  and  then  casting  them  forward  perhaps,  not  much 

*  The  sentiment  was,  —  "  The  memory  of  the  Scholar,  the  Jurist,  the 
Artist,  and  the  Philanthropist,  and  —  not  the  memory,  but  the  long  life  of 
the  kindred  spirit  who  ha*  this  day  embalmed  them  till." 


13 

further,  but  beyond  my  own  allotted  time,  I  see  you  have  a  mission 
to  perform.  I  look  from  Pisgah  to  the  Promised  Land,  —  you 
must  enter  upon  it." 


From  Edward  Everett. 

The  late  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  in  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  the  two-volume  edition  of  Mr.  Sumner's  speeches,  published 
several  years  ago,  said :  — 

"  Their  contents,  most  of  which  were  well  known  to  me  already, 
are  among  the  most  finished  productions  of  their  class  in  our  lan- 
guage, —  in  any  language.  I  am  sure  they  will  be  read  and  ad- 
mired, as  long  as  anything  English  or  American  is  remembered." 


From  Chancellor  Kent,  of  New  York. 

Of  Mr.  Sumner's  speech  on  "  The  Right  of  Search  on  the  Coast 
of  Africa,"  Chancellor  Kent  remarked  in  a  private  letter :  — 

"  I  have  no  hesitation  in  subscribing  to  it  as  entirely  sound, 
logical,  and  conclusive.  There  is  no  doubt  of  it,  and  the  neatness 
and  elegance  with  which  it  is  written  are  delightful." 

The  same  eminent  authority  remarks  of  Mri  Sumner's  Oration 
on  "The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations,"  — 

"  I  think  the  doctrine  is  well  sustained'  by  principle,  and  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel.  The  historical  and  classical  illustrations 
are  beautiful  and  apposite,  and  I  cannot  but  think  that  such 
cogent  and  eloquent  appeals  to  the  heads  and  consciences  of  our 
people,  must  have  effect." 

Of  Mr.  Sumner's  sketch  of  Hon.  John  Pickering,  Chancellor 
Kent  wrote :  — 

"The  biographical  sketch  of  that  extraordinary  scholar  and  man, 
John  Pickering,  is  admirable,  and  most  beautifully  and  eloquently 
drawn." 

Of  Mr.  Sumner's  celebrated  "  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Address,"  he  re- 
marks :  "  I  think  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  splendid  productions,  in 
point  of  diction  and  eloquence,  that  I  have  ever  read." 


14 

From  Martin  Van  Buren. 

President  Van  Buren  said  of  the  oration  on  the  "  Law  of  Hu- 
man Progress  " :  — 

"  It  has,  be  assured,  afforded  me  the  highest  satisfaction  to  find 
a  production  affording  such  incontestable  proof  of  the  learning  and 
great  intellect  of  its  author,  —  proceeding  from  a  gentleman  who 
has  established  the  strongest  claims  to  my  admiration  and  respect." 


From  Judye  Story. 

Of  Mr.  Sumner's  oration  on  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations," 
Judge  Story  remarked  in  a  private  letter :  — 

"  It  is  certainly  a  very  striking  production,  and  will  fully  sustain 
Mr.  Sumner's  reputation  for  high  talent,  various  reading,  and  exact 
scholarship.  There  are  a  great  many  passages  in  it  which  are 
wrought  out  with  an  exquisite  finish,  and  elegance  of  diction,  and 

classical  style In  many  parts  of  the  discourse  I  have  been 

struck  with  the  strong  resemblance  which  it  bears  to  the  manly, 
moral  enthusiasm  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh." 


From  William  Jay. 

I  have  just  received  your  very  acceptable  present,  • —  acceptable 
from  my  esteem  for  the  writer  and  for  the  great  truths  contained 
in  the  volumes,  expressed  with  the  elegance  of  the  scholar  and 
the  fearless  integrity  of  the  Christian.  When  called  to  account 
for  the  use  you  have  made  of  the  talents  intrusted  to  you,  these 
volumes  will  testify  that  you  have  labored  to  do  good  in  your  day 
and  generation. 


In  this  connection  the  estimate  entertained  of  Mr.  Sumner  by  lead- 
ing men  in  England,  will  fa  of  interest.  From  the  great  multitude 
of  similar  opinions,  the  follotcing  are  selected :  — 

From  the  Edinburgh  Journal. 

Mr.  Sumner's  lectures  are  not  ordinary  addresses,  —  they  remind 
us  rather  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  of  times  when  men  of 
note,  endowed  with  the  highest  understanding,  gave  full  vent  to 
the  feelings  that  possessed  them,  and  stirred  their  country  with  a 
fervid  eloquence  which  was  all  the  more  impressive  because  it 


15 

related  to  the  political  circumstances  in  which  their  country  was 
placed. 

We  have  in  our  possession  many  of  Mr.  Sumner's  speeches,  and 
we  confess  that,  for  depth  and  accuracy  of  thought,  for  fulness  of 
historical  information,  and  for  a  species  of  gigantic  morality  which 
treads  all  sophistry  under  foot,  and  rushes  at  once  to  the  right  con- 
clusion, we  know  not  a  single  orator,  speaking  the  English  tongue, 
who  ranks  as  his  superior.  He  combines,  to  a  remarkable  extent, 
the  peculiar  features  of  our  British  Emancipationists,  the  persever- 
ance of  Granville  Sharpe,  the  knowledge  of  Brougham,  the  enthu- 
siasm of  Wilberforce,  and  a  courage,  which,  as  he  is  still  a  young 
man,  may  be  expected  to  tell  powerfully  on  the  destinies  of  the 
Republic. 

From  Richard  Cobden. 

You  have  made  the  most  noble  contribution  of  any  modem 
writer,  to  the  cause  of  Peace. 


From  the  London  Examiner. 

We  would  recommend  a  close  and  earnest  study  of  the  speech 
on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  made  by  Mr.  Charles  Sumner  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  26th  of  last  AugUst  (1852). 
That  speech  will  reward  perusal.  Apart  from  its  noble  and 
effective  eloquence,  it  is  one  of  the  closest  and  most  convincing 
arguments  we  have  ever  read  on  the  policy  of  the  earlier  and 
greater,  as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  later  and  meaner,  statesmen 
of  America. 


From  a  Letter  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  to  the  London  Time*. 
Let  us  take  a  few  lines  descriptive  of  the  terrible  enactment 
from  the  speech  of  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  one  of  those  pow- 
erful intellects  and  noble  hearts  that  have  shone  so  brightly  in  our 
sister  country,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  ....  What 
noble  eloquence!  Carry  these  words,  sir,  by  the  vehicle  of  your 
almost  universal  paper  to  the  press  of  every  country,  and  to  the 
heart  of  every  human  being —  man,  woman,  or  child  —  who  has 
ever  heard  the  divine  rule,  "Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 


16 

From  the  Poet,  Samuel  Rogers. 

In  a  letter  to  the  author,  the  poet,  Samuel  Rogers,  wrote: 
"  What  can  I  say  to  you  in  return  for  your  admirable  oration  ? 
('  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations.')  I  can  only  say  with  what 
pleasure  I  have  read  it,  and  how  truly  every  pulse  of  my  heart 

beats  in  accordance  with  yours  on  the  subject Again  and 

again  must  I  thank  you." 

From  Lord  Carlisle. 

Lord  Carlisle  in  his  preface  to  an  English  edition  of  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,"  in  some  pleasant  reminiscences  of  interviews  with 
"  my  own  most  valued  friend,  Mr.  Charles  Sumner,"  remarks  :  — 

"  And  now  while  I  have  been  writing  these  lines,  I  have  re- 
ceived the  speech  he  has  lately  delivered  in  Congress  on  the  bear- 
ings of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  which  by  the  closeness  of  its 
logic,  and  the  masculine  vigor  of  its  eloquence,  proves  to  me  how 
all  the  perfections  of  his  mind  have  grown  up  to,  and  been  dilated 
with  the  inspiration  of  the  cause  which  he  has  now  made  his  own. 


From  Chambers^  Edinburgh  Journal. 

The  oration  ("  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations  ")  of  Mr.  Sumner, 
for  taste,  eloquence,  and  scholarship,  as  well  as  for  fearless  intre- 
pidity, has  been  rarely  equalled  in  modern  harangues. 


From  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 

He  presents  in  his  own  person  a  decisive  proof  that  an  Ameri- 
can gentleman,  without  official  rank  or  wide-spread  reputation,  by 
dint  of  courtesy,  candor,  an  entire  absence  of  pretension,  an  ap- 
preciative spirit,  and  a  cultivated  mind,  may  be  received  on  a  per- 
fect footing  of  equality  in  the  best  circles,  social,  political,  and 
intellectual,  which,  be  it  observed,  are  hopelessly  inaccessible  to 
the  itinerant  note-taker  who  never  gets  beyond  the  outskirts  of 
the  show-houses. 


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